


Stay With Me

by serenedash



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Canon Divergence, Romance if you squint, au where that one talk with akechi goes differently, spoilers for 7th palace
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-02
Updated: 2017-10-02
Packaged: 2019-01-08 02:06:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12244983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serenedash/pseuds/serenedash
Summary: Joker makes sure that all of the Phantom Thieves get out of the seventh palace alive- Crow included.Spoilers if you haven't made it to rank 9 of Akechi's confidant.





	Stay With Me

Akira felt frozen as Goro collapsed in front of them. They had beaten him in the fight but… at what cost? Why did they have to fight him?!

“You ready to call it quits?” Ryuji asked.

“I know… I’ve had enough…” Goro stated tiredly as he pulled himself up. “You’re so lucky,” he went on as he stared at the floor, “lucky enough to be surrounded by teammates who acknowledge you… and once Shido confesses his crimes, you’ll all be heros…” He let out a deep breath, “as for me? People will find out my past deductions were just charade. My fame will vanish…”

“I see…” Morgana drawled, “so you were turning people psychotic, then solving the cases yourself and you did that by joining forces with Shido…”

“In the end… I couldn’t be special…” Goro said quietly.

“Dude, you’re more than special,” Ryuji said earnestly.

“It pains me to admit,” Makoto started, “but your wit and strength far exceeds ours. We only defeated you by teaming up… I was honestly envious of your natural abilities,” she admitted, “it was frustrating to see how much my sister trusted you.”

“I have no interest in forgiving you for what you did to my father,” Haru stated strongly. “But…” she started to give, “I sympathize with you. I wholeheartedly understand wanting to get back at the adults who took from you.”

“But when you gained the power to fulfill that desire,” Yusuke jumped in, “you only used it for your own self benefit.”

“If you have the ability to use multiple Personas, you probably have the same talents as Joker,” Futaba told Goro. “But because you went through life alone, the power you awakened was fueled by lies and hate… Still, you thought that was enough, right? That part, I totally get.”

“You excelled at everything over us… yet that was the one thing you lacked,” Yusuke explained.

“All right!” Ryuji yelled then, “let’s go back and get the callin’ card ready! We’re gonna take Shido down. What’re you gonna do?” He asked Goro last.

“It’d be a problem if you kept getting in our way,” Ann told him, “wanna come along and help settle things?”

Goro looked up from where he was kneeling on the ground. “Are you all idiots…?” He asked quietly. “You should get rid of me… if you don’t want me getting in your way.” He glanced away, letting out a breath. “You all are truly beyond my comprehension…”

Just then, in the corner, a shadow appeared. Akira felt his hand hover his knife instinctively as it stepped forward.

“Akechi?!” Ryuji exclaimed confused.

The shadow stood a few feet behind Goro and it looked exactly like him. He must be…

“That’s Shido’s cognitive version of Akechi!” Morgana yelled.

Suddenly, the shadow reached into his jacket and whipped out a gun, aiming it at Goro. Everyone gasped, jumping into fighting stances on instinct.

“I’ll deal with the rest of you later,” the cognitive Akechi said in a strangely monotone voice. “Captain Shido’s orders… he has no need for losers.”

Akira couldn’t take his eyes off of the shadow. Of all the things to happen, why this?! His heart felt like it had stopped when that gun was pulled out. His muscles were trembling as thoughts raced in his head, trying to figure out what he should do.

“Well, this just moves the plan up a little,” the cognitive Akechi went on, “he was going to get rid of you after the election after all.”

“What…?” Goro asked shocked.

Whatever the cognitive Akechi said next was completely lost to Akira. Before he knew it, all he could hear was the blood pounding in his ears as he was sprinting towards the shadow. He tackled the shadow around its waist and he was pinning it to the ground.

“What the-?!” It exclaimed confused.

Rage was burning in Akira as he grabbed the shadow’s hand, grappling for the gun. Shido’s image of Goro had to be weak as the gun came out of its grasp easily. Akira chucked the gun in a random direction as the shadow fought to get back up again.

Akira held one of its shoulders down and began to pound its face in as he saw red. He could feel a growl, or maybe a scream, of anger in his throat but it felt like a blur. When he felt the shadow stop struggling under him, he staggered to his feet with his legs shaking like they never had before.

Everything felt still for a moment as he took in the image of Akechi beaten below him. Unconscious but clearly not dead. It was just a shadow after all. He looked over at Goro and he was sprinting again. He grabbed his friend’s arm, dragging him to his feet, and started running the way they had been initially going.

“GET TO THE SAFE ROOM!” He screamed as he passed the other Phantom Thieves. He didn’t look back but he heard his friends’ thudding footsteps from behind along with Goro’s stumbling.

“Safe room on the right!” Futaba yelled, “third door!”

Akira made a sharp turn, pulling Goro roughly behind him. When he made it to the door, his hand was shaking as he flung the door open and he practically threw Goro inside. He held the door, watching as the rest of his friends ran inside. When everyone was inside and accounted for he was the last to enter.

Everyone was gathered around the table, panting and exhausted. Akira stood by the door, mind reeling from everything that just transpired. It had all happened so quickly- he didn’t even think about it. His legs were shaking and his body felt like jello. The last time he had been so furious must have been when he awakened his Persona.

“-ker! Joker!”

He blinked a few times, realizing Ryuji was right in front of him. He must have been spacing out again.

“Dude, are you okay?” He asked, “you went like, berserk back there!”

He nodded, grounding himself again. He looked over to Goro, who was sitting on the floor crying. Makoto was rubbing his back, trying to make him feel better, with Ann on the other side of him. The rest of the Phantom Thieves stood by, not too sure what to do it seemed.

Akira walked forward, kneeling in front of Goro. He placed a hand on his leg, making him look up.

“You…” he said quietly, “why… why did you do that?”

“I wanted to save you,” Akira told him honestly.

Goro gave a bitter laugh, looking down. “You should’ve left me…”

He leaned forward and hugged Goro tightly, feeling the other man stiffen in his grasp. “I would’ve never done that,” he whispered, “I’m not going to just leave you here.” He pulled back, looking at Goro’s startled face. “Now come on,” he smiled, “we got a treasure to steal.”


End file.
